She took a taxi there and arrived early, finding few other people, so that she had time to wander through the cemetery, studying the graves. Many of them were in family plots, carefully tended and adorned with flowers. One in particular held her attention because of the loving attention that had been lavished on it.
Everywhere that Alysa looked she saw red roses. They stretched up to the foot of the headstone with its ornate, carved decoration, and its two candle-holders, both with flickering candles that glowed against the picture of the woman buried beneath.
Looking closer, Alysa recognised Carlotta di Luca.
She stared. After everything that had happened the day before she’d thought nothing could surprise her again, but this lavish tribute went beyond what she had expected.
‘Are you a friend of the family?’ he asked.
‘No,’ she said quickly. ‘I was just amazed to see roses at this time of year.’
‘Her husband has an arrangement with a firm that imports flowers. This is an exceptional delivery for today, but there’s a new bunch every week.’
Every week. After a whole year.
It might only have been for Tina, but she didn’t believe it. They weren’t just flowers, they were red roses, flaunted everywhere like a declaration. Drago was still passionately in love with the wife who had betrayed him.
‘Do any of the others have roses?’ she asked.
‘Oh no, some of them are almost never visited, which is sad.’
‘Just this one,’ she mused.
‘It’s good to see a man so devoted to his wife. But I sense that he’s still tormented by his memories, and has a long way to go before he finds peace.’
‘Are all the victims buried here?’
‘No. Some were visitors from other parts of the country, and their bodies were sent home-except for one, a man, who was a stranger. Nobody knew anything about him except his name and he was English. He didn’t seem to have any family. He was buried over there.’
He indicated a far corner where several neat rows of small graves lay that were little more than slabs in the earth. The plot was neat and cared-for, but this was clearly the place for those with no relatives to pay for a fine headstone. Alysa wandered over slowly and went along the lines, seeking James. She found him at last at the very far end, near the corner.
‘He looks so lonely out here,’ she said.
‘I know, this place is very sad. We tried to contact his family in England, but he didn’t seem to have one. I believe someone spoke to a young woman who was supposed to have known him well, but she sent back a message that he was nothing to do with her.’
‘She shouldn’t have done that,’ Alysa murmured.
‘Perhaps, but we’ll never know what she might have been suffering. Ah, I see people arriving.’
She hardly noticed him moving away. She was looking at James’s bare little plaque, tucked away in this lonely spot.
‘Where I banished you,’ she whispered.
It had never occurred to her before that James should be pitied, but now she saw him again at his best: young, laughing with the joy of life. She remembered how he’d broken into her austere existence, tempting her to enjoy new delights, teasing her. And his life had been snatched from him just when he had discovered his true joy. For the first time she knew sadness for his tragedy.
Now everyone was arriving for the ceremony, and Alysa stood back among the trees as Drago appeared. He seemed to be with a large family party that consisted not only of Tina and Elena, but several other adults and two children. Alysa watched until they had gone into the church, then she followed them quietly in and sat down at the back.
The family stayed close together. Tina’s hand was in her father’s, and on her other side a boy of about six was patting her shoulder. Glancing around the other families, she saw the same thing repeated in several different ways. These people were here to support each other in their loss. She was the only one isolated.
When the short service was over she slipped out of the door and went to stand among the trees once more. From here she could see the second part of the ceremony as the families walked among the graves and honoured their loved ones.
But for James there was nobody except herself.
‘They’ve shunted you away so that you don’t spoil their picture of the perfect wife and mother,’ she told him sadly, looking down at the little slab that seemed so paltry on the ground. ‘To everyone else but me, you don’t exist.’
A step nearby made her turn to see Drago, looking drawn and tired.
‘I sent the car to the hotel for you,’ he said. ‘You’d gone, but I still hoped to find you here.’
‘I couldn’t keep away. You knew that would happen, didn’t you?’
He nodded.
‘I guess you know me better than I know myself,’ she said.
‘Then it’s the same for both of us,’ he said quietly. ‘Are you all right?’
‘Yes, I’m fine. But you don’t look as though you slept well.’
‘I didn’t sleep at all.’
‘Was last night worse than you thought?’
‘Not really. It was thinking about today that kept me awake. Carlotta’s sister is here, with her husband and children.’
‘And they don’t know the truth either, so you have to do the performance for them too,’ she said sympathetically.
‘Exactly. But they’ll be going tomorrow, so perhaps we could talk again?’
For a moment she hesitated. It would be good to enjoy the consolation of speaking freely, just once more. But it was a dangerous pleasure, one that she might come to enjoy too much.
Drago di Luca disturbed her. He was an impatient, domineering man, implacable in getting his own way, and if she’d met him under other circumstances she might have disliked him. But with her he was defenceless and it touched her heart.
But that was what made her wary. She’d worked so hard at deadening her heart, and now he threatened her peace.
‘I don’t know,’ she said. ‘It might not be a good idea.’
Drago glanced down at James’s grave.
‘Because of him?’ he demanded. ‘Why do you still bother with him?’
‘Because he has nobody else.’
‘And who do you have? Forget him and live your life. When Carlotta betrayed me, I did what had to be done and cut her out of my heart.’
‘Hence the showers of red roses?’
‘That’s for Tina’s sake. She needs to believe that I’m grieving.’
‘You’re deluding yourself. You’re feeding your little girl nothing but pretty lies-’
‘Is it? Is it only for her sake?’
He scowled, and she knew he had no answer. After a moment he said, ‘What about you? Are you managing to cope?’
‘Yes, I’m doing fine.’
‘We need to talk again. I’ll call you as soon as I can be rid of them.’
‘No, Drago, it’s better if we don’t. We sorted out a lot of things last night, but there has to come a time when we say no more.’
A faint cry of, ‘Poppa,’ from behind made him look around.
